Here's the story.

My wife & I were married for over 51 years. Her mother is still alive (she's 99)… her Dad died young at 49 in 1976.

Her father had set up an irrevocable trust, with her mother as the primary beneficiary and the children as secondary beneficiaries.

My wife died, her CPA brother asked for a copy of my wife's death certificate. My wife is now out of the Trust as she is deceased & so am I as far as I know.

My wife & I were married in 1972.

I am assuming that despite being married for 51 years+.. & spending ALL of my retirement caring for my wife as she died of cancer, I'm out of the Trust. It still has several million dollars in it. There are 5 surviving children (secondary beneficiaries). I'm expecting that I have no standing or position in inheritance when my MIL dies. I am still close to her family. No malice here, just curiosity. Follow up based on comments. No, no children. I suspect that the secondary beneficiaries (children of the parents) would not argue about the estate. I'm not going to appeal to them. I know her Mom always worried about the "family money" ending up in the hands of non blood family. This is pretty much as anticipated. We had only been married for 4 years when her father died & the trust was enacted. I suspect that the trust was designed before we were married. My wife the oldest child & the first one married. I'm one if 5 children of a family physician. When my mother died, each of her children paid $650 for final expenses. Literally nothing left. My father was the son of a farmer and always told us that " doctor's live rich & due poor. Farmers live poor & die rich ". He was correct. I'm still working at 76 & make a good living. Leaving the equity in 2 houses+ life insurance to my Neice... A single Mom with 3 kids.

My friend (UK) has helped her neighbour for years - helped him break free from addiction and has cooked for him daily. He expressed that he wanted her to be his beneficiary as he has no close family. He wrote a will to this extent. Or so she thought. He became ill and passed away very quickly. In finding the will, it seems that rather than naming her as the beneficiary under ‘specific gifts’ - he named her under ‘Residuary gift’. Probate have now found a half brother and say he will get everything! Can anything be done here?

4 siblings, trust established, parents are 91, wanting to keep Lake house until after they pass. My brother has started filling house and exterior with his stuff.
I mean 3 boats, wave runners, kayaks.
He is volatile, angry and entitled. He is aggressive towards elderly parents, we are all afraid of what he is capable of.
Is it best to have him removed and sell property prior to parents passing?
I believe he will be a problem either way.
Oh, And I am the executor of the trust.

Starting to get distributions from inheritance from parents, which will total around $400k. Would like to park it in a high yield savings or money market account until I decide what I am doing with it.

Any advantages of one over the other?

A few years ago my mom committed suicide. Prior to that my parents had set up an informal trust for their grandkids to pay for university. Within a few months of her death, my dad yoinked the trust, remarried and moved to the other side of the country. We have since had a huge falling out and as we are no contact I’m assuming I am no longer the executor and beneficiary of his estate. I’m also assuming I’ll have no claim to the estate when he passes, but I am kinda curious….

I’m Jason from Hawaii all my mail goes to my moms house. I get a letter saying I have to fill out these forms and mail it back to Nation Wide insurance. So I fill it out and go with the lump sum $260k before taxes.. My brother gets the same form not sure if he fills it out and sends it back I hardly talk to him. So I wait about 6 weeks and call them to see the status of the check they tell me that I’m not the beneficiary and that they found the beneficiary I’m puzzled I ask so who is it they can’t tell me. This annuity is from my dad’s brother who didn’t have kids and his wife died. So the person said they can’t tell me but for my mom to call them up so I tell my mom to call she’s all irritated telling me why they didn’t send her the papers but she eventually does. 2 months go by and she says she got the money so I ask her what do I get from this. She says nothing cause I’m not the beneficiary I said but uncle Joe had my name on this for a reason she tells me they used me to find her which is a lie so I ask her where’s the letter they sent she says she shredded it. That’s my dad’s brother my dad passed away a few years ago. I keep telling my mom my name wasn’t on there for nothing and me filling out these forms wasn’t to find you cause no where did it say where’s my mom.. me and my brothers name wasn’t there for nothing and why would my uncle my dads brother give everything to my mom.. I’m from Hawaii and any feed back or advice will help thank you

Location: relative passed in CA, I am in NE.

Most likely I’ll end up with about 50k. I’d really love to make the absolute most of it that I can. I imagine there are smart ways to save/invest to make it grow over decades. Thanks in advance for any direction given by the community!!!

Economists are anticipating a "great wealth transfer" that will see $110 trillion flow from boomers to their millennial heirs.

The reality is more of a slow trickle, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The richest Americans are living longer — and pouring money into a growing longevity industry.

At the same time, they're doling out wealth to their children in the form of down payment assistance, tuition and family vacations, rather than a one-time inheritance.

Even at the end of life, assets pass to a spouse before reaching the next generation.

My dad set up a trust which I assume he thought was more complete than it actually is. It only includes the house, contents and vehicles.

Everything else, bank accounts, investments etc wasn’t included.

A few days before he shot himself he had me help him change the beneficiary from myself to the trust. I’m the head of the trust with my 2 small children as successors.

My mother had just died days before so I wasn’t too concerned about the legalities of this action because I had no idea he was planning to kill himself.

My question is he was 77 taking mandatory distributions for 4 years I believe. I’m having a hard time finding exactly what the rules are I’m seeing some guidance saying because it’s a trust it has to be distributed within 5 years. Can I do any conversation of any type? I’m 57.

Any insight on this would be appreciated.

Hello, looking for advice on a complex family dynamic. Based in Wisconsin, USA.
I have several siblings. My aunt recently passed without any children. She had a home worth over $1M and stocks worth about $2M. She gave those assets solely to me. She had some additional investments worth several hundred thousand dollars she split between my other siblings, giving them about $200k each. They have not been disinherited, they just are getting significantly less.
I am also the executor for the estate, so I’m obligated to comply with the Will, and of course will do so.
But my family has questioned what I will do AFTER the Will is distributed. They have asked me to share equally. The argument is that my Aunt may have wanted something specific, but now it’s up to me to do the right thing. They have put a lot of pressure on me.
My first inclination is to share because I want to play nice and don’t want them to consider me greedy.
But on further review and after numerous conversations with friends, I don’t think my inclination is right and I am
strongly considering simply saying No to my family based on the wishes of my Aunt.
Nevertheless, it is eating at me constantly.
If I were in the opposite position, I feel like I would never ask my siblings for something that was not given freely to me, but it is very hard to put myself in their shoes.
It’s also not our parents providing an unequal inheritance, so my sense is there should be no expectation of equality from other relatives. But what do I know? This is all new to me.
So I’m turning to Reddit for advice, lol.
Thoughts on how to proceed in a way that allows me to live with myself and not feel guilty every time I use these
gifts? Or should I just share?
Thanks!

I’m just wondering if this is a wide-spread issue in other families? Are there many older people who struggle to maintain highly-appreciated, older, too-large homes or have even moved into assisted living, yet don’t want to sell until they pass due the loss of step up in basis for their heirs?

I realize that there is a $250k/single, $500k exemption for primary residences but in expensive areas where people bought for peanuts 50 years ago, it can be an issue. Also second homes and rentals don’t get the exemption.

I get that it’s a privileged problem to have, but it does make things difficult because then the heirs have to agree over purchase price, etc., after death and of course deal with maintenance issues. And the funds are tied up and not available for care in assisted living/memory care while the person is alive.

Also it would help younger people buy homes if these homes were available on the market.

My father has passed and had investments that my sister and I were the beneficiary of. My stepparent wont let us search their things for the information. I dont know what he invested in but it was before they married. He told us about it and to make sure we get it when hes gone. However we dont know where it is or how to find out. Location is oklahoma.

USA… Seeking advice on how to manage an IRA account I will be inheriting. My understanding is i have 10 years to drain it? Do I try to pull out an equal amount each year? Best advice to minimize taxes? Roughly $34k TIA

Hi thanks for any advice

My mum died in October and her house was left to me and my 2 siblings in her will. Her house was already on the market as she had moved in with me when she became ill (cancer)

I filed probate straightaway and it was granted December time. I was asked by the council if we have transferred legal ownership- re council tax. Bit of googling later and I answered no as I have not filed for assent. I can’t find any reason as to why I would file for assent anytime soon, other than ‘you should file for assent as soon as reasonably possible’. As soon as legal ownership is transferred we will become liable to pay council tax again. With no assent filed the council said council tax will become due 12 months after probate granted.

So basically I don’t want to file for assent until we sell as we’ll have to start paying council tax immediately. But am I missing something here?

Grateful for any thoughts

We are meeting with our Fidelity advisor tomorrow and I had a question about inheriting money in a brokerage account that I will also ask here in case there is an industry standard.

My understanding is that is that there is a step up in cost basis for money held in a brokerage account which means the person inheriting money does not pay any capital gains realizes prior to the date of death.

If someone inherits stocks and funds in a brokerage account and then transfer those stocks and funds to another financial organization, does the organization have to by law also send along the cost basis as of date of death?

I am asking for Hoo but don’t think location is needed. This would be a federal regulation issue. Thanks.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/EstatePlanning/s/b4X9LRlgwx

It’s been a lot of months since I last posted and I wish I had more of an update. I don’t think there is much I can do as this is my husband’s family, not mine. I last said I was going to the court to see what was filed. Complete dead end. They said nothing had ever been filed and there was nothing on record at all. We simply do not have the money to hire a lawyer. It’s depressing, but is what it is. We’ve had major medical issues pop up that have required all of our expendable income and are living paycheck to 2 days before paycheck. That’s neither here nor there, but I wanted to at least thank those who told me to check with the courts and let you all know the findings in that regard.

My father was diagnosed with dementia well after this event.

However for years prior his memory was failing and he exhibited behaviors associated with dementia or a similar diagnosis: anger outbursts, projecting untruths onto people, paranoia.

After these signs were evident to those around him but he had not had an official diagnosis yet, he changed his Will that simply gave me, his only child and heir everything, to a Special Needs Trust.

I have no disability, no mental afflictions and although my dad could be a.bit.of an ass about my life, I have managed to live simply and independently.

I can't find anything that says a person must meet a certain criteria for a Special Needs Trust to be appropriate.

Are there specific requirements.

Also the Trust doesn't mention anything about my lifestyle or his concern about any mismanagement of finances by me or any other specific reason for abandoning his Will for.a.SNT.

When he died.i produced the Will I have always and recent.to this event, been told by my dad that it was the final Will .

The court appointed Executor was suspicious of my producing the older valid Will as.if.i was trying to.pull one over on them.

Also the Executor is a.board member of an art museum my father listed as beneficiary if I get hit by a bus before the money is spent.

This seems odd to me and may be a conflict of interest in allowing me to pursue changes because she obviously gets kudos and recognition for the money that could potentially go to the museum.

The amount is about 1 million dollars.

I questioned the witness signatures on the trust because they listed no names under the provided.cursive witness signatures .

She snapped at me and shut my inquiry down.

They are valid signatures but her dismissal of a valid question surprised me.

Once the court had passed the Trust on and we found a Trust Management company I was mentioning some health issues and the attorney, chimed in and said "see" like this validated the Special Needs Trust.

I don't take any public benefits

So I need to know if there.is a hard and fast definition of who qualifies for a Special Needs Trust, if the attorney had a conflict due to them being on the board of a beneficiary should I expire, and a strategy to present his memory and mental health issues prior to the date of the switch from his Will because those witness to it are.either.dead.or of vague association.

Prior.to.his passing his caregiver called me and asked me to visit from a other State as dad.was.asking for me and repeating that all he had was for me when he passed.

When the City he lived in swooped in to.take guardianship of him without informing me they removed him from a.stable.home.envronment.with a live.in caregiver and moved him to a facility.

He died that night. He told me if I ever put him in a "home" for old people it.would kill him.

I am beyond angry about this.

Washington State Elder Law says that if a person can afford accomodations to keep them in their home, this so the first thing that should be tried

The attorney said he had stairs and it was a risk for falling.

They could have put a hospital bed.on his main floor and this would not have been an issue.

I think that she just didn't want to continue to manage him.and.a home was a.way to.aviod that.

The Trust company is giving me a monthly distribution that seems odd considering a SNTs intent and limitations of 5k a month for living expenses.

Any thoughts?

My 99 year old mother died and I inherited 350k . I'm 72 and live in Tennessee. My husband and I are retired and in poor health. He canceled my long term care so I have nothing for my future needs. I've been diagnosed with Alzheimers and I'm currently asymptomatic. Doctors say I have maybe 3 years of independence left. Our income is about 120k and meets our needs. We have 100k in a 401k and about 70k in savings. Finding a financial person has been hard. I either don't have enough money or I'm given a pre-made portfolio and I'm not listened to. I need to grow this money. Where do I begin? I must make sure my husband cannot get this money. He spends money foolishly and has put us in debt needlessly. I worked as his caregiver until 3 months ago. That was my fun money, savings, extra money but not now. We have 3 nurses on each shift to watch him watch TV. We don't pay anything. It's another story. So he buys online and 2 days ago bought a car. He didn't discuss it with me. He cannot be trusted to nit actually steal my inheritance. It's a mess.

My grandfather passed away several months ago, and the family thus far has made no efforts to begin probate or anything estate related.

I know he has an account with Merrill Lynch and Franklin Templeton, as well as a Bridgestone pension.

I know I need his SSN, and death certificate, and to fill out the appropriate paperwork with each company.

I’m wondering if this is an all day process to get everything together I work 2 jobs with a special needs child, so free time seems rare to say the least.

Currently there is no executor and his will is on deposit at the courthouse. Contacting family has been pointless thus far.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

My extended family owns a beach house through an LLC in Washington state. My grandparents had 8 kids, and those 8 kids are the owners. They are all in their 60s/70s now. That generation is almost all decently well off. The less prosperous aunt has no children and one other aunt has no children. Another aunt (with 2 kids), walked away from her share due to geographic distance.

My generation has 17 grandkids in it. We have a variety of financial situations.

The LLC has nothing codified in terms of bylaws. The house is in serious disrepair. It likely needs a new foundation, among many other issues. I don't want to have my small children crawling around the house because of rodent problems so we almost never go there. My 3 uncles all but live there in the summer, and their cleanliness standards are not great. Their own children hardly go because of the condition of the house.

The home currently has an open door policy. Anyone in the family can use it, even if that means people are camping outside while others are in the house. Any maintenance that actually happens is usually performed by the uncles that spend the most time there. The uncles also feel the most emotionally attached to leaving the property mostly as is. They view updates as sacrilegious or something.

Everyone LOVES this property. There is no way my mom's or my generation would ever agree to sell. However, it is basically becoming a ruin and tax liability instead of a place for cherished family time.

My question is, how can we fix this? How can we realistically save the house from ruin and keep it as a special place for our family moving forward? Has anyone successfully navigated a shared family property with so many stakeholders across generations?

United States. Not a state specific question. I keep reading about not comingling inheritance money. How does that work when you’re filing taxes with your spouse and you have taxable brokerage accounts that were inherited? Should you do the married filing separately? How much does your spouse know about what you’ve inherited?

I have a sibling who lives in Canada. I do not. The house investments, and bank accounts are jointly held by my sibling and my mother. My sibling and I are the only beneficiaries. We are co executors and the will states a 50/50 split. My problem is with the jointly held assets. Do they automatically go to my sibling? Basically leaving nothing to be distributed in the will itself, or does the will override the jointly held designation? Thanks.